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featured book

Primitive Mythology

The Masks of God, Volume I

Format

Paperback

Price

$22.00

Paperback

ISBN 9780140194432

528 Pages

1 Nov 1991

Penguin Books

18 and up

Overview

The author of such acclaimed books as Hero With a Thousand Faces and The Power of Myth discusses the primitive roots of mythology, examining them in light of the most recent discoveries in archaeology, anthropology, and psychology

Primitive Mythology

Praise

“A monument of learning, wonder, and wisdom, daringly conceived and brilliantly written by a man who is at home in the Eastern and the Western universe of spirit.… In temporal span and spatial scope and in relevance to the needs of its own day, it is unexampled.” —Henry A. Murray, Harvard University

Series

Table of Contents

Primitive Mythology Foreword: On the Completion of The Masks of GodPrologue: Toward a Natural History of the Gods and Heroes:I. The Lineaments of a New ScienceII. The Well of the PastIII. The Dialogue of Scholarship and RomancePart One: The Psychology of MythIntroduction: The Lesson of the MaskChapter 1. The Enigma of the Inherited ImageI. The Innate Releasing MechanismII. The Supernormal Sign StimulusChapter 2. The Imprints of ExperienceI. Suffering and RaptureII. The Structuring Force of Life on EarthIII. The Imprints of Early InfancyIV. The Spontaneous Animism of ChildhoodV. The System of Sentiments of the Local GroupVI. The Impact of Old AgePart Two: The Mythology of the Primitive PlantersChapter 3. The Culture Province of the High CivilizationsI. The Proto-Neolithic: c. 7500-5500 B. C.II. The Basal Neolithic: c. 5500-4500 B. C.III. The High Neolithic: c. 4500-3500 B. C.IV. The Hieratic City-State: c. 3500-2500 B. C.Chapter 4. The Province of the Immolated KingsI. The Legend of the Destruction of KashII. A Night of ShehrzadIII. The King, and the Virgin of the Vestal FireChapter 5. The Ritual Love-DeathI. The Descent and Return of the MaidenII. The Mythological EventIII. PersephoneIV. The Monster EelV. Parallelism or Diffusion?VI. The Ritual Love-Death in Pre-Columbian AmericaPart Three: The Mythology of the Primitive HuntersChapter 6. ShamanismI. The Shaman and the PriestII. Shamanistic MagicIII. The Shamanistic VisionIV. The Fire-BringerChapter 7. The Animal MasterI. The Legend of the Buffalo DanceII. Paleolithic MythologyIII. The Ritual of the Returned BloodChapter 8. The Paleolithic CavesI. The Shamans of the Great HuntII. Our Lady of the MammothsIII. The Master BearIV. The Mythologies of the Two WorldsPart Four: The Archaeology of MythChapter 9. Mythological Thresholds of the PaleolithicI. The Stage of Plesianthropus ()II. The Stage of Pithecanthropus ()III. The Stage of Neanderthal Man (c. 200,000-75,000/25,000 B. C.)IV. The Stage of Cro-Magnon Man (c. 30,000-10,000 B. C.)V. The Caspian-Microlithic Style (c. 30,000/10,000-4,000 B. C.)Chapter 10. Mythological Thresholds of the NeolithicI. The Great Serpent of the Earliest Planters (c. 7500 B. C.?)II. The Birth of Civilization in the Near East (c. 7500-2500 B. C.)III. The Great DiffusionConclusion: The Functioning of Myth I. The Local Images and the Universal WayII. The Bondages of Love, Power, and VirtueIII. The Release from BondageReference NotesIndex